About FoodMayhem

In the chaotic kitchen of a recipe developer, you get a food blog called FoodMayhem.

I'm Jessica, an Asian-American, born and raised in NYC, and that's Lon, my Jewish, white husband. While professionally trained as a French culinary- and pastry chef, many of FoodMayhem recipes are my attempt to preserve and share authentic Chinese and Taiwanese recipes learned from my mom. We don't eat Chinese food every day, so you'll get a little bit of anything we find delicious enough to share: from our Eastern European side; recipes and techniques learned from my restaurant days; restaurant reviews, food travel tips; and a few other juicy bits along the way. Welcome to FoodMayhem!

Recipes that include anchovy

Saturday, March 17, 2012

My friend Angie introduced me to
Emporio231 Mott Street, New York, NY10013. Very good Italian food and the price is great if you book through Savored (invite link). When a couple of us gathered there for a girls’ night out, we were seated when Angie said, “you have to try the Kale Salad!” Of course, we all loved it–Angie is a taste bud. On the menu, they call it Cavolo Nero which just means black leaf kale, the type they use. What they don’t say or write is that it was essentially a Caesar Salad made with kale instead of romaine lettuce. I immediately thought to myself: I’ll make this for the girls next time they come over. I did and they all approved of this recipe 100%. What I consider 8 to 10 servings was gobbled up by six people.

As if great-taste is not valuable enough as a salad characteristic, this salad also offers a unique trait in that it can (and should) be dressed ahead of time! Usually you can’t dress a salad and let it sit, all the greens will wilt and it will look oh-so sad. Not this one, the kale will maintain its curly leaves and fluffy look. (Now, if only my hair could.)